Sliding sidelight for automobiles



Feb. 17, 1925.

J. MANEGOLD ET AL SLIDING SIDELIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Jan. 11I 1923 ULLII ,Tos EPH M/mfcfow FLM/wf Mfr/560m LUL 'il lumllllllll.

Patented F eb. 17, 1925.

UNI-ren sfr-MiEs-.Ml earner option.

JOSEPH MANEGOLD Ann FRANK MeNneoLn on een nnnncIsoo, CALIFORNIA; SAID JOSEPH MANEGOLD Assiettes To SAID FRANK ifinnneotn.`

sL`I1'nI`1\TGA sInELIGHT son AUTOMOBILES.

Appiibationled January 11, 1923) serial no. 611,95?.

To aZZlw/li'omjt mag/"concertar BeL it known" that we, Jo'sEPH-MANEOOLD and "limn'ri4 MANiieoL'D, citizens of the United Statesgresidingiin the city and county of San Francisco and Stateiof California, have be lobtained Without. theuse of glass.

The "primaryt objectof our invention is to proyide an''improved'sidelight lfor auto-` mobiles andmthe like): v

Another object is 'to provide an'improved constriiotion- Jwhereby the.y mou`nting-and manipulation ol` the facilitated.

A further object is to provideaniimproved construction wherebythe sidelightsmay be maintained in any idesiiedposition;

Another objectis to provifdei an improved slidingMY sid'elightV `formed Ifrom Va flexible transpart-mt` substance adapted to reduce dangerto the occupantsoi an' automobile incase-iol accidenti." Y

Another 'object- 'is` to pro'vi'de 'anfimproved side curtain-Which may be readily mounted in connection With existing; tops and bodies* A still further object istoprovide-`ini proved""man`s fori preventing the` entrance ctw-indi, rain and the like between sidelight'stf A stillffjfuther 'obj'ectis tol provide anV improved jiconstruction which' may `be built and installed' at f an economical cost.

VVefaccomplislr these# and other objects by meansI of the device disclosed in` the draw ingsfforminga part.1 ofthe present speci:

cation andA drawingsv `wherein like char` acters of"rel'erencer are used-to designate Similar parts throughout said specification and drawings. and `in 'which Figpfl is -fa broken' side-Y 'elevation of an' automobiler equipped"` with my improved sliding"sidelights-y Fig: 2 is lal'broken side elevation of one sideli'gl'i't showingthe manner in Which-the upper; guide `is engaged.

Fig.1 3 is an'enlargedisectionv taken upon theline 3;-3 ofFig. 1.

Fig. et is a horizontal section'talien upon adjacent the line l-4- of Fig. $5-, showing the relation between adjacent sidelights andthe "weather strips secured therebetween.-

Fig. 5 is a broken side elevation of al side# light showing a modilied constriiction of the springs and means for attaching` .the sidelights upon the upper guide;

Referring, to thc` drawings the numeralfl is used to designate in` general the body ol "an automobile provided wltha top 2 ofthe type commonly` provided on `opencarf models.l As is Well known,` the side curtains. commonly provided 'lor use 'with topsvof V the-type disclosed canbe seeuredinposi! tiononly with great inconvenienceyand even whenv so secured are not ellective infcompletely excluding Wind, rain and' thelilte to obtain `the com-fort olio closed car model Furtlieri'nore the curtains-cannot be adw juste'd to various positions,-`and when not in use are commonlystoredlin an inaccessible portion o'l' the automobile'so that much inconvenience is cansedfwhen'it becomesneeessarjv tomount the curtains `in position.`

To overcome the above objections, tops have beeny built onto bcdiesto-replace the standard tops With whichl the `open car models are equipped, suclrstructures being structures having heavy` Wooden or 'metal glass Windows arranged to `be 'moved Jfrom a normally open position Within the "back portionol the top, to closed positions along;- the'sidesof the automobile; Such arrange mentnot` onl7 adds excessively totliefweiglit of the automobile, but therost ofsuch installation is so ygreatns to be prohibitive to'persons of moderate means.4 Furthermore7 the 'large pieces ol glass used are :i source of great danger should an accident occur, many persons-preferring the-relativo discomfort of an' open car` to' exposing` themselves to this hazard when driving.

To overcome the Vobject-ions to'botliithe yabove mentioned types ol automobile tops We have devised an improved arrangement wherein sidelights 3 are mounted for slidable movement'in connection withtlie standard open car top. The sidelights 3 are formed from substai'itiall)7 i rectangular frames -l formed from shoot metal or other suitable material adapted to obtain a rigid trame. Sheets 5 ot transparent colluloid. isinglass, or other suitable flexible substance are out toa size slightly less than thesize l9 may of the opening within each frame. Binding strips 6 are then mounted over the frame in such manner that the opposite edges of the strips will be disposed upon opposite sides of the transparent sheets 5 within the openings of the frame, said strips extending entirely -around and completely enclosing the frame. The edges of the strips 6 are then stitched together by means of stitches 7 passed through the sheets 5 so that the'sheets are firmly sewed in positionwithin the frames.

be sewed through the strips close to the frame 4 to add firmness to the sidelight, and to prevent slippage of the binding strips over the frame.

Brackets 11 are screwed or otherwise secured upon the upper corners of the frames 4 to engage upper guides 12 secured upon the inner sides of the side members 13 of the top 2. The guides 12 are preferably formed from channel members secured upon strips Y14 adapted to be bolted or otherwise secured upon the main bow of the to'p as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, this constructionV is, of course, subject to variation to meet the requirements of different types and structures of trops. The channels are provided with inwardly turned flanges 16 formed upon the lower ends of the legs, said flanges being spaced from the back of the channel sufficiently to receive lateral extensions 17 carried upon the upper endY of the brackets 11 whereby said brackets may be retained in engagement with the guides. The guides are mounted in pairs upon each side of the top in such manner that when a sidelight is mounted in each guide such sidelights will be slightly spaced as shown in Fig. 4of the drawings to permit independent movement thereof.

Lower guides 18 are secured upon the upper edges of screws or other suitable securing Vmeans, said guides being built up to a height sufcient to permit the sidelights to be moved to the extreme back of the body. Channels are provided to receive the lower edges of the sidelights Vwhich are arranged to fit neatly between the upper and lower guides when assembled into the sides of the automobile.

A shield 19 provided with a flexible transparent pane is secured upon each side of the automobile adjacent the forward end of the top to effectV a permanent closure be tween the adjacent sidelights and the wind shield of the automobile when said sidelight is moved to the closed position. A curtain 21 is permanentlyvsecured at the back of the top to extend between the top and the upper edge of the body, said curtain being of sufficient width to normally cover t-he sidelights 3 when moved to the rearward position.

Leaf springs 22 are secured upon the Additional stitches the sides of the body by.

upper ends of the brackets 11 within theY upper guides 12 to normally exert a pressure against the back of said guides. The springs ma or 5secured in other suitable manner adapted to give a rigidconnection. The pressure exerted by the springs is sufficient to resiliently maintain the sidelights at any desired portion of the sides of the automobile to be closed. Depressions 23 may be probe riveted or welded to the bracketsvided in the back of the channel guides 12. l

torreceive the ends of the springs when the sidelights are moved tok their extremek u positions. The springs 22 are normally enclosed between the sidelights and the backs of the adjacent channel guides. If desired the springmay be made of sufficient width to be engaged by the fianges 16 and thereby made to serve the purpose of the extensions 17 in maintainingengagement between the.

sidelights and Ythe guides. This construction is shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings wherein'the spring is shown secured upon the top of the bracket 11 in such manner that the sides of the spring along the middle.

portion thereof engage the flanges 16 and the ends of the springs engage the back of the guide to exert a pressure'thereagainst to normally resist movement along the guide as above explained.

As the sidelights upon each side'of the automobile are arranged in slightly spaced relation we provide a weather strip 24 arrangedvto prevent the entrance of wind, rain and the like between the curtains. The weather strip consists of a strip of rubber or other suitable material7 preferably triangular in cross section, said strip being clamped between inwardly bent legs of a channel 27 screwed or otherwise secured upon one side of a frame 4 to engage the surface of the adjacent sidelight. The' outer edge of the strip 24 is arranged to press firmly against the adjacent curtain but is suiiiciently flexible to be readily bentto permit movement of either sidelight in either direction.

From the above description it will be seen that we have provided an improved construction whereby sidelights may be constructed without the use of glass and lreadily installed in connection with existing types of tops and open car bodies to obtain a closed car effect at a moderate cost. `The several parts areLof course, subject to modif fication in the details of construction and installation to conform to dierent styles of tops and bodies. We, therefore, do 'not wish to restrict ourselves closely to -the precise details shown, but desire to avail ourselves ofsuch reasonable modifications as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as newV and. desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with an automobile body and top, of a pair of strips bolted in proximate parallel relation upon the inner sides of the side members of the top; channels forming upper guides secured upon the lower edges of the strips upon both sides of the top, said channels having inwardly disposed retaining fianges; lower guides secured upon the upper edges of the body; sidelights slidably mounted between the upper and lower guides; brackets secured upon the sidelights adjacent the upper corners thereof; extensions formed upon both sides of each bracket and engaged within the upper guides, said extensions being retained in engagement with the guides by the retaining flanges thereof; springs each having one end secured to a bracket and the other end resilient-ly engaging the top ot the channel guides to hold the extensions against the flanges and thereby retain the sidelights in desired positions.

2. The combination with an automobile body and top, of a pair of strips bolted in proximate parallel relation upon the inner sides of the side members of the top; channel forming upper guides secured upon the lower edges of the strips upon both sides of the top, said channels having inwardly disposed retaining flanges; lower guides secured upon the upper edges of the body; sidelights slidably mounted between the upper and lower guides; brackets secured upon the sidelights adjacent the upper corners thereof; extensions formed upon both sides of each bracket and engaged within the upper guides7 said extensions being retained in engagement with the guides by the. retaining flanges thereof; springs each having one end secured to a bracket and the other end resiliently engaging the top of the channel guides to hold the extensions against the flanges and thereby retain the sidelights in desired positions; depressions being formed in the top of the channels to engage the ends of the springs and define the eX- treme positions or' the sidelights and increase the resistance offered by the springs to movement from said extreme position.

In witness whereof we hereunto set our signatures.

JOSEPH MANEGOLD. FRANK MANEGOLD. 

